Monday, June 8, 2009

Seven Shirts + Seven Steps = One Thrifty Quilt

***UPDATE July 18, 2010*** I have noticed a huge amount of traffic visiting this particular post. Could someone leave a comment and let me know who directed you to the Seven Shirts Quilt? I'm soooooo curious! Thanks a bunch!

Bless you all! Several quilters answered my plea for help...so now I can re-post the instructions for the Seven Shirts quilt. This was originally a "mystery" on my old blog, but for convenience sake, I'll post the instructions in order.

Fabric Finish, Best Press, Spray Starch (some product for crisping up the fabric)

Begin with seven men’s shirts: 2 light and 5 darks. They must be 100% cotton, and similar weight. Ensure the fabric isn’t too worn, and has good body. It should feel like good quilting cotton.

Cut off the collar, the cuffs, and the button plackets. Toss these in the basket to deal with later. If the shirt is an oxford type with button down collar, use your seam ripper to remove the buttons from the front – keep the buttons! Cut the back yoke, the sleeves, the fronts. Cut off the hems and seams. Seriously, don’t try ripping the shirts, or picking the seams out. Cut ‘em.
Reserve the backs of all the shirts to piece together the backing of the quilt.
From the lights: cut twelve 6 ½” squares, and as many 2 ½” strips as possible. Any strips too narrow for 2 ½”, cut for 2” strips. The two inch strips will be pieced together for the binding in a later step. Here's how it's done:
Press and starch the pieces with a hot iron. Layer the sleeves one on top of the other, and cut 6 ½” strips across the width of the sleeve Then cut 6 ½” blocks from the strips. You’ll have 8 of the 12 squares, and lots of left over bits. Reserve the bits for later (toss them in the basket) Next, a front. If you are like me, you’ll ignore the pockets. Incorporating them into the quilt gives it some charm. If you’re NOT like me (ie: normal) then avoid cutting the pockets. Now you’ll have the last 4 blocks, plus some strips, and some trash. With the second front, Fold in half to make cutting easier. Cut 2 ½” & 2” strips Square off the ends of the strips, and toss the garbage. With the back yokes, layer the pieces, and cut 2 ½” and 2” strips. Square off the ends of the strips. Repeat these steps with the second light shirt. This is what you should have: A total of 24 6 ½” squares, 2 ½” strips, 2” strips, the complete back, and lots of good scraps to cut up later. Now, onto the dark shirts. This time, set aside the backs AND the sleeves of the dark shirts for later. Concentrate on getting as many 2 ½” strips out of the fronts and back yoke. If you are like me, you’ll make sure the label from the yoke is centred right in the middle of the 2 ½” strip. Again, I think this adds charm. But, if you’re not like me (you know, normal!) then avoid the label.

Step TWO – nine patches, and some housecleaning. In this step, the goal is to create a total of 24 identical nine patch blocks, 6 1/2" square. Of your five darks, choose one of them to be the centre patch of the nine patches we’re going to make. I went with red – it was the brightest, and I thought it would provide some ‘pop” – but any colour is going to provide cohesiveness, because it’s going to show up where it’s expected. Sew together strips, using your longest 2 1/2" strips and a precise 1/4" seam. 3 sets of each will probably be enough. 1st dark, light, 2nd dark light, dark chosen for centre, light 3rd dark, a light, 4th dark

How the lights are placed is irrelevant, but the darks must be placed so that each of 24 nine patches will be identical. Press the seams, light towards dark. Cut the assembled strips into 2 1/2" sections, and assembly line sew them into nine-patch blocks. Blocks will measure 6 1/2" square. Press and square them up . ***If you have enough sections left over to make four more nine patches, this is a bonus! You can use them as part of a pieced border that will be introduced in a later step. Go ahead and construct those four extra blocks. If you don't have enough left overs, don't worry about it, we'll do something different. SOME HOUSEKEEPING: (1) Prepare a border: Of the colour you chose for your centre of the nine patch blocks, sew remaining 2 1/2" strips end to end to prepare an inner border that will be used in a later step. You'll need about 5 yards in length. If you don't have 5 yards, cut some extra strips from the sleeves that have been set aside. (2) Prepare the binding: Sew all of your 2" strips end to end to prepare binding. Fold in half, and press. You'll need about 7 yards in length. If you don't have 7 yards, just wait until a later step.

(3) Prepare the backing: piece together the back of the quilt using the backs of the shirts you've set aside. A total area of 58" x 70" is ideal. You may need to cut large chunks from the sleeves you have set aside. I needed five sleeves plus the seven backs

Step Three : Snowball Blocks Cut 24 2 1/2" squares from each dark - except the dark that was used in the centre of the nine patch blocks.

Match a dark square into the corners of the 6 1/2" light squares. Place a ruler with the 1/4" line diagonally from corner to corner of the small dark squares. It would be impossible to draw a pencil line on the dark fabric, so we're just going to cut here. Stitch, and press corners open. Make 24 identical blocks. Placement of the darks is IMPORTANT - so pay attention here. Maybe a photo will help you understand the explanation that will follow.

See how the two blue fabrics are placed the same as in the nine patch? Now notice that the black and gold fabrics and flipped to the opposite corners than in the nine patches. Like a mirror image...get it? Okay - - go for it.

Step Four : Begin Assembly

Using the 24 nine patches and 24 snowballs, we are going to construct 12 identical blocks. I guess the most important part is the placement of the lights of the snowball blocks. Make sure you have one of each of the two different light fabrics in each big block. Now arrange the blocks in such a way that a hexagon/diamond-y shape is constructed in the centre, all of the same fabric. Now assembly-line sew the smaller blocks into bigger blocks, and press.

Once all your blocks are sewn, make sure they are all lying in exactly the same position, then lay them out in a 3 block x 4 block grid, and sew together.

Step Five : Add First Border

If you haven't done this step yet, Prepare a border: Of the colour you chose for your centre of the nine patch blocks, sew remaining 2 1/2" strips end to end to prepare an inner border that will be used in a later step. You'll need about 5 yards in length. If you don't have 5 yards, cut some extra strips from the sleeves that have been set aside.Apply the first border to the quilt.

Step Six - Second Border: Piano Keys

With all of your left over 2 1/2" dark strips, cut in 6 1/2" lengths, and begin piecing a piano key border. Of course, you can sew longer pieces together first, and then cut into 6 1/2" lengths. Now, if you had 4 four-patches left, you put those in the corners. Or, if you kept the triangles that we cut off the snowballs, you can piece some pinwheel blocks. Or, choose ANY block that will finish at 6" square to make your corners. I simply mitred my corners, but wouldn't blocks look cool? Apply borders to quilt.

Step Seven - Finishing

Y'all ready for this? Now is the time to make your quilt sandwich and quilt as desired. But I should give you a couple of tips, right?Do you want to use up some leftover batting? Trim two sides straight, butt the edges up together and Zig-Zag stitch where they meet - - be sure the stitch width is as wide as possible, and the stitch length is as long as possible. You kept all the buttons from the shirts, right? And check out your machine owner's manual....cuz you can sew buttons on with your machine. Cool, eh? Consider "tying" your quilt with buttons, instead of traditional stitching or tying with thread. Of course, you can quilt however you like, and then add some buttons in the border for embellishment. I can't wait to see how you interpretted this mystery. I hope you will share a photo when you're done!

I watch for the $3-bag-sale our thrift store has from time to time, when they've accumulated too much of everything, I can then fill a paper grocery bag full of shirts! I have a tub full of dismantled shirts waiting to be used and your tutorial is perfect for them! Thank you!

I love this pattern and the use of plaid shirts. It is such a great quilt for men - patterns which are hard to find. I have made 3- one for a son using his old shirts, and 2 memory quilts (grandpa's shirts). Now my son-in-law wants one-but not a plaid shirt person, so need to visit the thrift shop. Your explaination and photos for cutting up the shirt are wonderful - and very little waste - a scrappers delight!

Hi. I found this post several weeks ago from a google search. I was looking for ideas for memory quilts using old clothes. I LOVE THIS PROJECT. I was just waiting for some time and a good garage sale to get the shirts together. Now I have both. I started cutting the shirts a week ago, then had to go out of town for a week. You'll see me hitting the post a lot in the next few days while I'm making the quilt. Thanks for posting it.

what a neat idea.!!!!!!!!! Thanks for the shirt quilt pics also . I have some shirts from my Father and would like a way to do something with them .This is perfect. I got the link from the cyberquilters newsletter on Yahoo.I keep all the old ones and am about 1yr behind lol but still can find a lot of neat sites Thanks Debbie Kelly ... http://somewhereinstitches.blogspot.com

What a great idea! I got sent this link from http://quiltwhangarei.blogspot.com/I'm a huge fan of Bonnie Hunter , I have one of her books and would love her shirttails one.I have been collecting and cutting plaid shirts for awhile now...I think your project is now added to my'to do list'.

I found this page through quiltvillechat@yahoogroups.comrelated to Quiltville.com, the site of Bonnie Hunter (Scraps and Shirttails, Adventures with Leaders and Enders) where she promotes the re-use of shirts!

I found this site through quiltedparadise.com (a great site!). I really like the idea of a quilt made with shirts. This one will definitely be a project on my to-do list - not until after Christmas tho...already too much on my worktable to finish! LOL

To find out where your traffic is coming from, when you click "Design" you can click the "Stats" tab to find out that info. Make sure you select "Don't track your own pageviews" to give you an accurate count. On Stashbuster, we were told Bing listed you as first, but for what keywords I don't know.

I found your blog from http://quiltinglibrary.blogspot.com/My husband passed away on Thanksgiving day 2010. So I was looking for ideas to use his clothes to make stuff for his Dad & brother. I used his paint pants to make a raggy quilt. So I think this would be good to make for his Dad! Thank you

Hi, I found your post from http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-120674-1.htm. Thanks for all the detailed directions.

I am frugal at heart..brought up that way & not ashamed! There is something wrong with most Americans now, you should see all the perfectly good stuff set out on the curb to be buried in the landfills after our semi-annual citywide yard sale. I don't understand, since we must have 6 agencies that pick up donations every month (at least one per week). And what happened to creativity...must we always just buy things at the store with instructions on the bag? I used to give my kids a lot of leftover materials of every kind, just as I might have found in my grandparents basement or garage. It is amazing when kids play with materials & no instructions what they might come up with; as well as learning how to cut, sand, sculpt, mold & fasten. Sorry, I just couldn't get past all that is piled along my street today.

Because of all the stuff sitting on the curb and stacks of clothes folks finally decide to sell for a buck a bag, I have little use for the high priced precut squares which makes yardage add up to above $10/yd! This tutorial really opens up the box of thinking for what we can do with ALL old clothing no one wants to wear anymore.

Love the 7-shirt tutorial. I'm a big thrift-store fan, can't wait to try out this pattern. BTW- some of the traffic lately could be from MQResource.com- there was a post that referenced your blog there lately.

I found you on Google by typing in Quilt Patterns for men's old shirts.

My husband's great uncle died last year and his daughter wants me to make lap quilts from his old shirts for her and her siblings. I have made over 100 quilts for people and this is the first time I will attempt to do some from old shirts. This website is the best one I have found and I truly appreciate it!!!

I came from Bonnie Hunter and a comment left on the Eat Sleep Quilt Blog by http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.com/I like how you matched up the 9-patches to the snowball blocks and used the labels too! Great pattern.

HiFound your delightful blog from a post on the yahoo group quiltville chat.What a fun quilt to make. I am working on a project for the new VA hospital that opens in Las Vegas in April 2012. What a fabulous men's quilt. Love the idea to use the buttons too. Your tutorial is great. I have bookmarked it and will have fun soon to make this quilt.

I had saved this tutorial 2 years ago. I make a lot of stuff from old clothes especially doll clothes. Just remembered this and wanted to make sure it got on Pinterest. Looks like it has. Glad the site is still going!

I found your site on Pinterest. I love this quilt! My grandfather passed away last year and my mother has all his shirts! She wanted me to make something for her brother and sisters from them, and also for his grandchildren. This is an awesome idea! The tutorial is so detailed and sounds easy to follow. Thank you

I came here in a round about way from the Amish Life page on Facebook. I've got lots of clothes that my granddaughters no longer wear and I hope to make each of them a small, lap size, quilt from pieces of these items rather than toss them out. Many of them, the clothing items, came from a Goodwill store so they were used to begin with.

Years later, we people are still finding and appreciating your post! I found it on Pinterest posted by Lisa Redmond from TheThriftyQuilter.blogspot.com. I especially appreciate the shirt cutting tips that help maximize the amount of usable fabric. Thanks!

I found this link in Pinterest. This reminds e of a lap quilt I made for my father out of old men's shirts. I cant remember how many shirts I used. I discovered that a large man's shirt back is about the same as a FQ. I made plain square, half square triangles, and quarter square triangle placing them randomly through out the quilt. The fabrics were a variety of brown plaids. I used buttons to "tie" the quilt instead of quilting. I love this frugal way of making something useful and attractive. Thanks for posting your quilt and directions!

Thank you for the great tutorial! I have made most of my quilts using men's shirts, even old men's shirts but also my son's. I think I will try this pattern when I start a new project. oh, and I came here from Paulette's blog http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.fi/2012/09/im-staying-focused.html

I subscribe to a blog called Sweet P Quilting and Creations and she posted a picture of this quilt and a link to your page. I love the whole idea of making a quilt with old shirts. And this one is a beauty.

Hi from Germany!I found the link to this post in a German Quilting page:http://www.patchwork-quilt-forum.de/hemdenquilt-muster-t20306.htmlLove the tutorial!(Honey....I think it's high time you's bought some new shirt, don't you think?!) ;-)

I wanted to thank you for this wonderfully easy pattern. It's quick to stitch for someone grieving. Here is the quilt I made. I can't get the link to work, but you can copy and paste my address, I hope. Kind regards and many thanks.

How wonderful your site is, so glad I happened upon it ;-). You have just made me a convert to using plaid..... which, BTW, I truly looooove!!Now I can have my own plaid quilt.... Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

What a great article! I have this bookmarked and am going to do this. My son LOVES his plaid shirts and hates to part with them when they are too small. I'm going to do this with his old shirts. I found you from a link posted on Quiltvillechat Yahoo group, Bonnie Hunter's email list.

What a great pattern and/or tutorial! Your link was shared at quiltvillechat, where using buttons has had quite a bit of discussion lately. I discovered I already had your pattern bookmarked, so obviously I must have liked it then, too. :)

Excellent tutorial. I love that you put the buttons and labels on. I came via a post on quiltvillechat. Bonnie Hunter at www.quiltville.blogspot.com also works with thrifted shirts. I went to the Op-shops (Goodwill etc) last week and shirts were $6.50 EACH! I'll keep my eye out for bargains, but it will probably take a long time to get enough shirts for a whole quilt LOL.

I was looking for some inspiration for the piles of old shirts my husband no longer wears. My 9 year old said let's make a quilt! So, I googled "old shirt quilt" and here you are. Your quilt may be a bit too advanced for me (i'm just a beginner), but it is great inspiration!

I arrived here from Pinterest! And I'm glad I did. I especially like re-purposing and recycling, and your quilt turned out very nicely! I would like to try this myself... also thinking about making a bow-tie quilt in maybe the same way. :D

Thank you so much Nancy! I've come across your tutorial in 2010, when a friend of mine was sewing this quilt according to your instructions.It took me quite a while to find shirts in the right shades and to gather courage to sew! And guess what! I did it! A non-quilter living in a metric world decided to cut and sew in inches, LOL!

You can see my version of "7 shirts" here: http://osieosi.blogspot.com/2011/08/7-koszul-7-shirts.html

SOOOO excited to find this tutorial, through Pinterest. :) I have many plaid shirts from some special little boys' deceased grandfather and my plan is to make them quilts. Now I have an amazing tutorial telling me how! Thank you! :)

Thank you so much for posting this! My husband never wore t-shirts because he was a business owner and always dressed professionally. I am a widow and just could not bring myself to get rid of all my husbands shirts. I felt there had to be a good use. The cuffs can be made decorative with bits and pieces of lace, etc. that the young ladies are wearing right now.

By the way, I found you on facebook thru a posting by "Bad Ass Quilters".

I googled quilts from dress shirts and found this site. I just got about 30 100% cotton mens shirts in excellent condition and will be making a quilt from them. Will refer back to your site for some how to cut up effectively.

Thanks Nancy I added you as the author of this great Project on my blog and corrected the misunderstanding.I think this is one of the coolest quilts I have seen or done. It takes time to take shirts apart but is well worth the time for sure and price .....My oh my.... you can't beat a $2.00 shirt which is what a yard or more of fabric.and last but not least I got to keep a part of my Father with me and a lot of the ladies in my guild used their dads shirts also .They had been keeping them for a special project.It was truly special to me. Glad I found your blog will be fun exploring Thanks so much and God bless Debbie Kelly http://somewhereistitches.blogspot.com

My son's godfather passed away. I offered to make his shirts and ties into a quilt for his family if they wanted me to, so I google searched "quilt men's shirts" and landed here. I am thinking to make the top out of his shirts and maybe use the ties as binding.

I found your post on Pinterest.I am always looking for quilts that would be suitable to a man. I sew for our prayer quilt ministry at church so we make quilts for all - young/old, male/female. Your recycled shirt quilt is the best of both worlds - looks great for a man and is cheap for a ministry that is supported by donations. Thanks for the inspiration!

Way before Pinterest, I printed out this post. Would you believe I actually got a 7 Shirt Quilt made? Just finished it! Printing the directions really helped me follow your steps. I wanted to share with you the results of following your directions. I've just posted a blog about the quilt and given a link to this post so others can know the details. Here's the link to my post. http://joysjotsshots.blogspot.com/2013/08/7-cowboy-shirt-quilt-for-sportsman-club.html Isn't it amazing how your 7 Shirt post has stayed so alive!

What a great quilt and such a great way to reuse old shirts. I can't wait to start on one! I followed a link that was posted on the blog, "Under the Table and Dreaming" by Stephanie Lynn http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2013/09/sunday-showcase-party-211.html, which led me to the blog, "Joy's Jots, Shots & Whatnots", http://joysjotsshots.blogspot.com/2013/08/7-cowboy-shirt-quilt-for-sportsman-club.html, who posted a comment a couple up from this. Thanks for sharing!!

I found you on pinterest looking for quilts to make using my hubby who passed away June 1st. I want to use his shirts to make throws for the family.Much better than giving them away. I can't do that. I have no idea where to start. Your tutorial makes it much easier. Thanks Jude

I was at Goodwill and I saw these mens shirts and then I got to thinking about how much I was spending on fabric at the fancy quilting store. I was inspired to reduce, recycle, and reuse by my great aunts who used up all old clothing to make quilts.

Thank you for your blog, it was just what I was looking for. I found it by using google search. I want to make my mom a memory quilt using my dad's old shirts. She want it for her king size bed so I think I will just double the pieces.